Webb holds his hands up over United penalty

April 29, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Top English referee Howard Webb conceded on Tuesday he had been wrong to award English Premier League leaders Manchester United a crucial penalty against Spurs last Saturday.

Spurs were leading 2-0 at the time when Webb – who only last week was appointed referee for May’s FA Cup final – pointed to the spot after judging Spurs ‘keeper Heurelho Gomes to have fouled Michael Carrick.

That proved to be the turning point as Spurs folded completely to end up on the wrong end of a 5-2 defeat.

“I’ve looked at it again and I think it was a mistake but we make these decisions honestly,” said the 37-year-old, who last year received death threats from Polish fans for awarding Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria a late penalty in their group game which they converted to force a 1-1 draw.

“It’s not always easy to see the way the play pans out from pitch level,” he told the BBC.

“I could see the Manchester United player touch the ball and saw him get clattered by the goalkeeper but didn’t see the extra deviation from the goalkeeper’s fingers touching the ball.

“I’m disappointed as I always strive for perfection. I’ll look at the tape in detail later in the week and try to avoid it happening again in the future.

“I never want to have a negative impact on a game and I get no pleasure from not reaching the high standards we set ourselves.

“But show me a man who’s never made a mistake and I’ll show you a man who’s done nothing.”

Webb admitted in January he had experienced the lowest moment of his career when during the Birmingham Wolves FA Cup third round tie he inadvertently deflected a pass by Birmingham’s Radhi Jaidi to Wolves striker Andy Keogh which led to Sam Vokes scoring – Wolves won the match 2-0.

“You want the world to swallow you up at that moment,” he said at the time.

Tags: andy keogh, Austria, bbc, Birmingham, death threats, English Premier League, euro 2008, fa cup final, Goalkeeper, group game, Howard Webb, last saturday, league leaders, london, Manchester, manchester united player, match 2, Michael Carrick, negative impact, pitch level, polish fans, referee, Sam, spurs, turning point, vokes, wolves

Wenger says ´mind games´ like advertising

April 21, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger likened “mind games” between rival Premier League managers to advertising as he did his best to stay out of the row between Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafael Benitez.

Manchester United boss Ferguson accused Liverpool counterpart Benitez of “arrogance” and showing “contempt” following the Spaniard’s reaction to seeing his side go 2-0 up against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield.

Benitez, whose Liverpool team will overtake champions United at the top of the Premier League if they get at least a draw against Arsenal at Anfield on Tuesday, has fired off several verbal volleys at Ferguson this season.

Wenger, who has had his fair share of run-ins with Ferguson and former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho during his time in England, said here on Monday: “You want respect in the game, and we managers are responsible for it.

“I do not want to interfere in that more because I do not know what happened (between Ferguson and Benitez),” the Frenchman added.

“I believe it (mind games) was always something which was overrated a bit.

“But it is part of our environment and part of the media.

“You never know how much impact it has because it is impossible to measure.

“It is a little bit like advertising – it is needed but what impact it has on sales you never know. With mind games it’s the same.”

Wenger added: “I believe that it can sometimes have a negative impact rather than a positive impact.

“There is a rivalry there and I do not give too much importance to it.”

Arsenal now appear secure in fourth place and seem all but assured of Champions League football next season but that is not enough for Wenger.

“We cannot be happy with only trying to remain fourth.

“We want to get closer to the top and have a good opportunity to come back to six points on Liverpool.

“Third place is important, second place is important and why not first? You never know.

“You do not want to have regrets.”

Meanwhile, Wenger re-iterated his criticisms of the state of the Wembley pitch after the surface cut up again during both of the FA Cup semi-finals.

“You will never see a good football match on a bad pitch. It is like that,” said Wenger.

“I just would think they should have to reconsider the whole structure of the pitch. At the moment they can re-lay it every three months and they will always have a bad pitch.

“It is not good enough for the Champions League Final, for the Olympic games, not for the semi-final of an FA Cup.

“Why? Because the first priority is that the pitch is good when you build a new stadium.

“If that is not right, the whole stadium is bad no matter how much money you spend.”